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Biden signs bill on COVID origins declassification

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:16 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan bill Monday that directs the federal government to declassify as much intelligence as possible about the origins of COVID-19 more than three years after the start of the pandemic.The legislation, which passed both the House and Senate without dissent, directs the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to declassify intelligence related to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology. It cites “potential links” between the research that was done there and the outbreak of COVID-19, which the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020. The law allows for redactions to protect sensitive sources and methods.U.S. intelligence agencies are divided over whether a lab leak or a spillover from animals is the likely source of the deadly virus. Experts say the true origin of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 1.1 million in the U.S. and millions more around the globe, may not be known for many years...

Montana senator wants to block mandatory diversity training

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:16 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Republican lawmaker in Montana wants to prohibit mandatory diversity training for state employees with a bill whose language matches a Florida law that is temporarily blocked by the courts.The proposed “Montana Individual Freedom Act,” would prohibit diversity, equity and inclusion training as a condition of state employment if the training is aimed at having the employee believe that a group of people are responsible for “and must feel guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress,” for historical injustices. A House committee heard testimony Monday after the Senate passed the bill on party lines. “I find it interesting and confusing that we’re trying to legislate emotional responses,” the executive director of the Montana Human Rights Network, Angelina Gonzalez-Aller, said Monday when she testified in opposition to the bill before a House committee.“I have no doubts that this is little more than a censorship attempt rooted in a coordin...

Sports bets abound, NCAA now embraces Vegas in March Madness

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:16 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — An event that would have been unthinkable not even a decade ago is coming to Las Vegas this week. That’s March Madness.The NCAA Tournament avoided the city until now because sports gambling is legal here. The governing body for collegiate athletics even had a policy in place of not allowing its championship events to be played in Nevada.Gone are those times. With sports betting abound, the NCAA has no qualms about placing its championships in Las Vegas. The West Region games at T-Mobile Arena are among the many championship events the NCAA awarded to the city.Others include hockey’s Frozen Four in 2026, the Final Four in 2028, and a shot at the College Football Playoff National Championship as early as 2027.This no longer is Jerry Tarkanian’s Las Vegas, at least in the eyes of the NCAA, which for many years had fought with the UNLV Hall of Fame coach who sued the governing body and settled in 1998 for $2.5 million.Between the outlaw image of Tarkanian and an overall...

Biden awarding 1st batch of arts, humanities medals Tuesday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:16 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bruce Springsteen has a Presidential Medal of Freedom and a coveted Kennedy Center Honor. He has won multiple Grammys and Golden Globes, plus an Academy Award and a special Tony Award. Springsteen will add to his collection of accolades on Tuesday when President Joe Biden honors “the Boss” with the 2021 National Medal of Arts. It’s the nation’s highest award for advancing the arts in America.Springsteen, who has sold around 140 million albums, is among a dozen individuals and groups that Biden has chosen to honor with arts medals during a White House ceremony on Tuesday. First lady Jill Biden will also participate. At the same event, Biden will award 2021 National Humanities Medals to a group including authors Amy Tan, Colson Whitehead and Ann Patchett. The medal honors individuals or groups for work that deepens understanding of the humanities. Both medals are the first of their kind to be awarded by Biden. The president surprised Sir Elton John with a...

Policía: hallan cuerpo de una mujer en contenedor de basura al sureste de DC

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:16 GMT

El cuerpo de una mujer fue hallado en un contenedor de basura la tarde del lunes en el sureste de DC, informó la policía. Detectives están investigando el cadáver encontrado detrás de un edificio de apartamentos en 1616 27th Street SE en el área de Randle Highlands, según las autoridades. Más información no estuvo disponible de inmediato.Esta es una historia en desarrollo. Source

Denver weather: Rain-snow chances, feet of mountain snow

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:16 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Denver's weather will become more active this week with a chance for rain or snow showers every day for at least the next seven days. The mountains will see several feet of snow in spots over the next few days. Weather tonight: Snow west, northMountain snow showers will increase in coverage overnight. Roads will be slick for travel in the higher elevations Monday night into early Tuesday. Denver and the Front Range will keep mostly cloudy skies with temperatures falling into the upper 20s. What will spring weather be like for Colorado? The northern Front Range and foothills have a chance after midnight to see isolated snow showers early Tuesday morning. A light dusting is possible, but it shouldn't be enough to impact roads in the lower elevations. Weather tomorrow: Mountain snow Denver will hit the upper 50s on Tuesday with partly cloudy skies and a 10% chance for isolated rain showers in the afternoon and evening. The mountains will see another wave of scat...

Boston pizza shop owner called to court after arrest on forced labor charge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:16 GMT

A Boston pizza shop owner was called to federal court in Boston for a detention hearing on Monday a matter of days after he was arrested last week on a charge of forced labor. Stavros Papantoniadis, 47, of Westwood is accused of abusing employees, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced on Thursday. U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins, who spent most of the day watching Papantoniadis’ detention hearing on Monday, said Papantoniadis is guilty of a form of human trafficking by using threats and physical violence to retain employees. One employee told a Homeland Security investigator he worked between 85 and 110 hours a week at Stash’s Pizza in Dorchester with no days off, according to officials.Special Agent John Heaton, testified that one victim, an undocumented immigrant from North Africa, was brutally beaten on multiple occasions. Heaton said the man even lost his teeth. In 2007, Heaton said Papantoniadis kicked the man in the groin when he asked for a...

Failed Dem Lt. Gov., AG candidate lands $160K job in Healey admin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:16 GMT

Former candidate for attorney general Quentin Palfrey has landed a sweet new job in the Healey-Driscoll administration, as their new Director of Federal Funds and Infrastructure, the governor’s office announced.“Massachusetts has a unique opportunity to aggressively compete for billions of federal dollars to support crucial infrastructure, climate and economic development projects in our state – from the Inflation Reduction Act to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to the CHIPS and Science Act and beyond,” Gov. Maura Healey said along with the announcement.“Quentin Palfrey’s extensive federal and state government experience, combined with his passion for serving the people of Massachusetts, make him the perfect fit to take on this challenge and deliver results,” she continued.The position is an entirely new invention of the Healey Administration, though Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration did have a similar Director of Infrastructure Investment gig to oversee the spending of st...

Banned in Boston? Nips, guinea pigs on the chopping block

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:16 GMT

The City Council’s looking to add two new entries to the “banned in Boston” ledger: nips and guinea pigs.Councilors introduced two new items that would — separately from each other — look to hold a hearing to explore the ban of miniature liquor bottles generally known as “nips” and bar the sale of guinea pigs.The nip order comes from City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo, the district councilor from Hyde Park — a neighborhood where some locals have been waging war against what they’ve said are thousands of discarded nips.“The data is clear that in cities that have banned the sale of nips there is a significant and positive impact on public health,” Arroyo said in a statement. “We should put the wellbeing of our communities first by banning the sale of nips in Boston as well.”Nips are typically sold at liquor stores and, per Arroyo, generally can’t be recycled. The councilors said that other local cities and towns including Chelsea ...

Trump arrest wouldn’t change support, might hurt his campaign, pollster says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:16 GMT

Whether or not former President Donald Trump is in fact arrested Tuesday or later, apprehension by law enforcement will not substantially impact his support among the Republican faithful, according to a pollster.“Voters have very well formed opinions of Donald Trump,” John Cluverius, a professor of political science at UMass Lowell and the director of survey research at their Center for Public Opinion, told the Herald Monday. “I don’t think there are any Republicans who will like Trump less or more because he’s been indicted.”The 45th President of the United States took to his Truth Social Media platform early Saturday to inform followers he would be arrested on charges brought against him by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, following allegations he made a hush-money payment to a porn star mistress ahead of the 2016 election.Trump has offered a number of reasons for the payment, disclosure of which eventually sent former attorney Michael Cohen to prison, most recently seemi...